Fin rot? Ammonia burn? Both? Please help, emergency

Hello everyone,

I've had Vex (male betta, not sure what type) for about a year. He's not had any previous health issues (other than fin rips/nips - I think just because they're so long). I moved home about 2 months ago, he was in the bag for about 7 hours due to travel etc, I kept the temperature as stable as possible (though I couldn't monitor it). And I kept the majority (at least 80/90%) of the original tank water. The filter media was also kept in this water for the duration of travel. I did this based on advice from the LFS.

I've been measuring the water parameters weekly watching for a spike/cycle crash. It was only when I realised that as well as having dodgy looking fins (which I had been dismissing due to his habit of ripping them - though on closer inspection they're worse than normal) and color changes to his face that I checked the date on the test kit and realised it was out of date (I'm stupid, I know). I don't know how long the water was bad (or how bad). I have new tests now (liquid tests from the LFS), I tested straight away and got a reading of 0.2 for ammonia (on the 22 Nov 24). The following readings in the questionnaire are from today.

I have a horrendous feeling it's fin rot/ammonia burn and I have no idea what to do. I feel so guilty for overseeing something so obvious

I've tried to attach pictures for demonstration, I've added a picture of how he used to be (last one)

Any advice appreciated!



Housing:
How many gallons is your tank? 10 (45 liters)
Does it have a filter? Yes
Does it have a heater? Yes
What temperature is your tank? 26 (taken with a glass thermometer, awaiting digital thermometer)
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? The filter outlet agitates the surface water (not a strong current)
Does your Betta have tank mates? 2 What kind? Netrite snails

Food:
What food brand do you use? Bug bites. Usually has a rotation of bloodworm, being shrimp, daphnia live food.
Do you feed flakes or pellets? Pellets
Freeze-dried? No
How often do you feed your Betta? Usually twice a day
How much? 2-3 depending what hes eating

Maintenance:
Before your Betta became ill how often did you perform a water change? Weekly
What percentage of water did you change? 25% weekly, 50% monthly when I cleaned the filter (didn't replaced sponge, just unclogged it in fish water I'd taken out)
What is the source of your water? Tap water (with conditioner)
Do you vacuum the substrate or just dip out water? Vacuum
What additives do you use other than conditioner? A remineraliser (aquadur) and fertiliser for the plants (tropica)
What brand of conditioner? API stress coat

Water Parameters:
What are your water parameters? Please give exact numbers. If tested by pet store please get exact numbers. "Fine" or "Safe" won't help us help you. Important: Test your water before the regular water change; not after one.

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 8
Hardness (GH): Need to get test
Alkalinity (KH): 9

Symptoms and Treatment:
When did you first notice the symptoms? Couple of weeks ago I noticed a ragged looking tail
How has your Betta’s appearance changed? Ragged looking tale and scales on fave turning white/silver
How has your Betta’s behavior changed? Very lethargic, not interested in food (but eating a little). Sitting on his bed at the top of the water not swimming/moving unless disturbed.
Is your Betta still eating? Yes a little
Have you started treating your Betta? If so, how? No, I was just told to keep the water clean by the LFS and now I'm here for help
Does your Betta have any history of being ill? No
How long have you owned your Betta? About a year
Was he or she ill or suffering some sort of damage when purchased? No

Manda17 said:

Food:
What food brand do you use? Bug bites. Usually has a rotation of bloodworm, being shrimp, daphnia live food.
Do you feed flakes or pellets? Pellets
Freeze-dried? No
How often do you feed your Betta? Usually twice a day
How much? 2-3 depending what hes eating

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I assume that's meant to be bloodworm and brineshrimp and auto correct changed it to being shrimp?

Do you use frozen, freeze dried or live bloodworms and brineshrimp?

How often do you feed the other foods (brineshrimp, bloodworm, daphnia)?

What does his poop look like?

The fish looks skinny and curved and that is a bad sign. The lack of appetite could be an internal protozoan infection, especially if the fish does/ did a stringy white poop. You could try deworming him and treating for an internal protozoan infection. If that doesn't help then he's probably got a major internal problem (problems with one of his internal organs) and there's no cure for that.

Metronidazole is used for internal protozoan infections in fish and would be the first thing to try. If he recovers then deworm him. The following link has info on treating fish with stringy white poop and includes a section on deworming them.

You could try feeding him live brineshrimp every day for a week (assuming you aren't using it) and see if it helps.

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The white on the face can be colour change caused by his genetic makeup. Some Bettas change colour as they age. There are no fish diseases that cause the scales to turn white or silver so I would say it's genetic and nothing to worry about.

Ammonia burn and chemical burns appear as black patches on the fish and can show up anywhere on the head or body. The fish doesn't appear to have ammonia burns.

Thank you so much for your reply!

Do you use frozen, freeze dried or live bloodworms and brineshrimp? I've only ever fed live brine shrimp, daphina, bloodworm with the occasional pellets

How often do you feed the other foods (brineshrimp, bloodworm, daphnia)? He gets live food twice a day, usually he has brine shrimp, maybe 4/5 sometimes more depending what gets into the pippette. He gets live blood worms (2/3) once every other day. I try to swap out dapnia/brine shrimp on a weekly basis depending whats available.

What does his poop look like?
His poop looked a pale pink, occasionally coiled, sometimes stringy. I haven't seen it in a few days tho so I'm not too sure right now.

He is skinny! I went away for a couple of weeks in July, he had holiday blocks and a friend did a water change. He lost alot if weight so I don't think he was eating, but he's not seemed to of put the weight back on since (this is why I've been feeding bloodworms so much in the hopes he'd fatten up). Could this be related?

He's currently being fed brineshrimp/pellets but doesn't want to eat either of them.

Does he actively eat the live food or just pick at it?

If he's only picking at the live food then treat him with Metronidazole for a week and see how he goes after that.

He has been attempting to eat, but not trying to.swim aftr them. So if it doesn't pretty much swim in his mouth, he won't eat.

He's currently lying at the bottom of the tank, seems unable to swim but has his head held up as if trying to go to the top. He swam up, jumped out the surface, then went back to the floor.

Change most of the tank water and treat with Metronidazole. Then cross your fingers and hope for the best. If there's no improvement after a few days of Metronidazole he will probably die.

Thank you guys! I have Seachem metroplex on the way. It's estimated arrival is the 30 Nov. I really struggled to find anything here in the UK.

This morning he was still lying on the bottom with the occasional dart to the surface. He's mostly lying on the bottom in a c shape, facing various ways. His body seems to of pretty much change to a very pale color too, like his face.

is there anything I can do to make him more comfortable in the meantime?

Also, if it is a protozoan infection, is this something I'm doing? Dodgy parameters? Or just bad luck?

thank you!

Manda17 said:

I really struggled to find anything here in the UK.

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The reason you failed to find anything in the UK is because metronidazole is prescription only here. I assume you bought the Seachem product from the US? In theory, it's possible it'll be confiscated by customs, though if it's via Amazon there shouldn't be a problem.

All antibiotics are prescription only here but finding a vet to prescribe one is next to impossible.

Cancel the order and euthanase him, he's dying.